Help me choose a new CC

[jerrylundergard]

Hello everybody!

Ive been neglecting my credit card game for sometime but decided to step it up. Ive got a ~720 score on all 3. I have 2 car loans for total of 45k @ ~3% and a 190k homeloan @ 4 1/4% with over 50% equity if that matters. I have a 2 student loans in good standing with about 15k left. A couple misc credit lines in good standing and my credit cards. I have a cap 1 that I just turned into a quiksilver @ 19% with a 7k balance with cl of 9200. My balance on that one fluctuates from 0-maxed. I have a citi gov travel card with about 300 balance and 10k limit. I only use that for Military travel and stuff as I am a reservist. I have USAA rewards visa at something like 11% with 7k balance and 10k limit. That one also fluctuates between 0 to maxed. My annual income is ~125k

Anyhow, I am looking for 1 more solid credit card with a high cl and low apr. I belong to NFCU but dont have any cards with them, I also belong to Alaska Fed CU but have no cards with them either. I really only want to apply for 1 card right now and want to make sure I pick a good one. Any ideas? Thanks

[HeavenOhio]

Make sure your utilization is on the low end when you apply for anything. Maxed can do you in.

And in general, if you have to fill up a card's limit, avoid being maxed. You're not maxed if your balance is 89.9% of the limit or lower. Obviously, much lower than 89.9% would be the best situation.

AMEX might be a good fit. Mine came in with a good limit, but it has a so-so APR. It's 0% interest for a year, though.

[Anonymous]

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@jerrylundergard wrote:

Hello everybody!

@Ive been neglecting my credit card game for sometime but decided to step it up. Ive got a ~720 score on all 3. I have 2 car loans for total of 45k @ ~3% and a 190k homeloan @ 4 1/4% with over 50% equity if that matters. I have a 2 student loans in good standing with about 15k left. A couple misc credit lines in good standing and my credit cards. I have a cap 1 that I just turned into a quiksilver @ 19% with a 7k balance with cl of 9200. My balance on that one fluctuates from 0-maxed. I have a citi gov travel card with about 300 balance and 10k limit. I only use that for Military travel and stuff as I am a reservist. I have USAA rewards visa at something like 11% with 7k balance and 10k limit. That one also fluctuates between 0 to maxed. My annual income is ~125k

Anyhow, I am looking for 1 more solid credit card with a high cl and low apr. I belong to NFCU but dont have any cards with them, I also belong to Alaska Fed CU but have no cards with them either. I really only want to apply for 1 card right now and want to make sure I pick a good one. Any ideas? Thanks

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I would stick with NFCU. You already have a good relationship (seems like) and it looks like your credit profile is in tact (you've got some high Utilization though). I am not sure how NFCU looks at high UTIL...maybe someone else could chime in on that part.....but yeah I would stick with NFCU....good luck!!

[Anonymous]

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@jerrylundergard wrote:

Hello everybody!

@Ive been neglecting my credit card game for sometime but decided to step it up. Ive got a ~720 score on all 3. I have 2 car loans for total of 45k @ ~3% and a 190k homeloan @ 4 1/4% with over 50% equity if that matters. I have a 2 student loans in good standing with about 15k left. A couple misc credit lines in good standing and my credit cards. I have a cap 1 that I just turned into a quiksilver @ 19% with a 7k balance with cl of 9200. My balance on that one fluctuates from 0-maxed. I have a citi gov travel card with about 300 balance and 10k limit. I only use that for Military travel and stuff as I am a reservist. I have USAA rewards visa at something like 11% with 7k balance and 10k limit. That one also fluctuates between 0 to maxed. My annual income is ~125k

Anyhow, I am looking for 1 more solid credit card with a high cl and low apr. I belong to NFCU but dont have any cards with them, I also belong to Alaska Fed CU but have no cards with them either. I really only want to apply for 1 card right now and want to make sure I pick a good one. Any ideas? Thanks

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Where does your spending go? Because that makes a huge difference on suggestions that benefit you best.

[jerrylundergard]

My spending goes to the usual family stuff: food, travel, entertainment, purchases, etc. Anyhow, I plan to pay off completely my Cap 1 card within 2 months and have the USAA card cut in half at least. Maybe I should wait until then to open the CC? Or just open it up already? I dont really need the CC I just want to get my credit scores as high as possible and also want to have the new cc for emergencies or really for whatever.

As for NFCU, I was going to get a car loan from them but Alaska Fed CU beat them buy a couple points and offered me 2.86% vs ~ 5% at NFCU. So I basically just have an open acct with NFCU with nothing in it, no CC, loans etc. Maybe opening with them would be good just to start a relationship as I also like the idea of getting a ploc if needed.

Alaska Fed CU also has CC but I never hear about anyone recomending their CC. 

[Anonymous]

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@jerrylundergard wrote:

My spending goes to the usual family stuff: food, travel, entertainment, purchases, etc. Anyhow, I plan to pay off completely my Cap 1 card within 2 months and have the USAA card cut in half at least. Maybe I should wait until then to open the CC? Or just open it up already? I dont really need the CC I just want to get my credit scores as high as possible and also want to have the new cc for emergencies or really for whatever.

As for NFCU, I was going to get a car loan from them but Alaska Fed CU beat them buy a couple points and offered me 2.86% vs ~ 5% at NFCU. So I basically just have an open acct with NFCU with nothing in it, no CC, loans etc. Maybe opening with them would be good just to start a relationship as I also like the idea of getting a ploc if needed.

Alaska Fed CU also has CC but I never hear about anyone recomending their CC. 

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I suggest wait until then. But an AMEX Blue Cash Preferred card may be good for you, as long as you shop in supermarkets and not Target or Walmart for groceries. Or the Marvel Mastercard for dining out and entertainment purchases.

The USAA Limitless or Alliant Cashback Visa may be a great card if you can direct deposit $1000 each month or don't mind a $59 AF (if you put 12K yearly on it, it is better than a 2% card and has no FTF) respectively.

[jerrylundergard]

Good point on waiting until my util is down. Ill just wait till summertime to apply. When I do apply Im leaning towards: NFCU, Alaska Fed CC (have car loan with them), BofA CC (I do direct deposit with them), Wells Fargo (I have homeloan with them), or Chase or Citi. I am interested in starting a total banking relationship and not sure if I should go in with the credit unions (NFCU vs AFCU) vs the bigger banks or chase or Citi, any thoughts? 

[Creditaddict]

NAVY!

[AverageJoesCredit]

Ummm, Navy

[jerrylundergard]

Well its caso cerado for now (case closed). I was leaning 100% towards Navy and still have an open account with them so I may use them for something down the road but it wont be a CC for now. I called up Alaska Fed CU who just gave me a car loan at 2.86% and beat the socks off Navy on that one. So since I just did the car loan Alaska Fed said they would just use the credit pull from my car loan since it was within 60days. That was huge as I didnt want another inquiry. So Alaska Fed offered me a 10.5k limit credit card at 12%. I asked for 25k thanks to stuff I read around here and they countered me with 10.5K and I accepted. Pretty excited, plus I got my scale today and found out I lost another 5pounds in about 2 weeks, yay me!!!